I called and was able to get a same-day appointment for a full foil. The woman I spoke with was very friendly and warm, which only made me more excited to get my hair done somewhere that's so close to home.
The salon itself has a very relaxing atmosphere, with lots of comfy seating and a cheerful color theme, providing a nice balance to the energetic Latin music and rapid-fire conversation filling the air. The owner is incredibly friendly and came over to introduce herself during my visit, which added to the overall friendly neighborhood feeling of the salon. The stylists themselves looked put together, and appeared to truly enjoy their profession.
When I got there, I sort of stood around a while since there doesn't seem to be an official receptionist to greet anyone, and the rest of the staff seemed busy. After a few moments, I was introduced to my stylist and quickly realized we'd be working through motions and gestures, since she spoke no English and I spoke no Spanish. A coworker translated for me, and we settled on my services and got started. I had wanted my highlights touched up, and they had suggested getting lowlights to freshen up my overall color, which I agreed was a great idea. I picked out the lowlight color from the color swatches myself. I have very thin, fine hair that is very quick and easy to do, so I figured I'd be in and out by lunchtime.
I ended up spending *4 hours* in the chair - my whole base color was dyed the darker "lowlight" color I had chosen, and then was highlighted over this base color. This meant bleaching out the color she just put in (pointless!) AND bleaching over my old bleached highlights - ouch! The end color result, while really pretty, was significantly darker than the color I walked in with - definitely *not* what I had wanted. I also ended up with a REALLY uneven haircut, and while she gave me an excellent blowout, she just did it without any indication it was an additional fee.
I was absolutely exhausted by the time I left, not having had expected to spend 4 hours there. (It usually only takes 2 hours max, even when I do my base or lowlights!) While everyone was friendly and sent a smile in my direction, it was pretty tough sitting still for that long and not being able to have any conversation whatsoever with your stylist. The cost of the services was not at all what was expected because something was lost in translation (literally), which was frustrating, but overall was still within an acceptable range.
So, would I go back? Probably not, but don't discourage others from trying them. I think my experience was a one-off, and not the norm. Their prices are reasonable, the staff was very sweet, and they use excellent color and product. I would like to get my nails done, since their nail techs seemed really talented. I would recommend being EXTREMELY clear about what you want and what you DO NOT want, moreso than usual, and being able to speak Spanish would definitely be a bonus. read more